


Trapped and Inefficient

by Unholy_Author



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Dubious Morality, F/F, M/M, Mentions of Violence, Mild Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-19 04:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12403461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unholy_Author/pseuds/Unholy_Author
Summary: Original character work for a-greatbig-bottleof-fuck on Tumblr





	Trapped and Inefficient

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LiterallyThePresident](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/gifts).



> Hey, it's our ocs cause we can't stop writing about them lol. She has a few more pieces about them if you're interested

It was a lovely party. Swirling dresses and clinking glasses, laughter filled the air and Seshe wound his way around the large ballroom with ease. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. Unusual, for his line of work. It was a shame someone was going to die.

Seshe indulged in conversations with people that he’d never talked to before and would probably never talk to again. He kept an eye out for the one person he was actually looking for and about halfway through the night he found him. Lucrius Quelus-Kishev was talking to some man, his eyes half-lidded and flirtatious. Seshe watched the pair for a moment before taking a glass of wine from one of the servants and making his way to an older woman near the pair. He struck up an easy conversation with her, glancing at the men out of the corner of his eye. He caught Lucrius looking toward him just as he looked away and he kept his eyes away for a solid minute before looking back. Lucrius was completely ignoring the man he was talking with. He looked at Seshe and his lips curled up in the corners.

“Uh-huh. That’s very interesting.” Lucrius murmured. “Excuse me for a moment.” He said dismissively before wandering over to Seshe and the woman. Seshe raised an appreciative eyebrow. He was making this very easy.

“Elora Greene, you didn’t tell me you’d gotten married again. And to such a handsome man, nonetheless, you devil.” Lucrius laughed. Ms. Greene waved a hand as she covered the bottom half of her face with her hand, though her eyes crinkled happily.

“Oh, don’t tease me.” She laughed. “You know I’m not the catch that I used to be.” Lucrius let out a small noise of incredulity.

“Please, I see Edward Jacobs over there looking at you like he wants nothing more than an excuse to talk to you.” He said with a sly smirk. Ms. Greene’s eyes widened slightly as she glanced over to where the other man stood across the room. Their eyes met for a moment and he offered a small smile before glancing away. Elora looked back at Lucrius with wide eyes.

“He was looking at me!” She said, shocked.

“Yes, he was.” He laughed. “You should go talk to him.”

“He’s a widow as well, if I remember correctly.” Seshe offered when she glanced to him.

“Oh, I..I couldn’t leave you in the middle of a conversation.” She said, though she was very obviously on the fence about it.

“We can talk again later, go see if he wants to dance.” Seshe said with a smile. Elora beamed at him and made her way over to him. She’d only managed to get a few feet away before Lucrius spoke up.

“So, I don’t recognize you.” He said with a raised eyebrow. “I’m Lucrius Quelus-Kishev, and you are?”

“Seshe, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lucrius.” He said with a pleasant smile as he held out a hand. “What are you doing here?” He asked, as though he didn’t already know.

“Pleasure to meet you, as well.” Lucrius said, taking his hand. Seshe brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of his hand, smiling against it. Lucrius blinked before smiling brightly. “I’m a friend of Ila and her wives, they invite me to all of their parties. Who are you here with?” Seshe let go of his hand and shrugged.

“I’m here with friends.” He said vaguely. Lucrius’ lips tilted upwards.

“Just friends?” He asked, sounding pleased.

“Just friends.” Seshe confirmed. “Are you here with anyone?” He asked, tipping his head toward the man he’d been talking to earlier. Lucrius glanced at the man and let out an amused chuckle.

“Oh, no, nothing like that.” He laughed, rolling his eyes. “Besides, that’s Khelva. Rumor has it that he and Linwir are dancing around one another and I’m not getting involved in that.”

“Rumor has it?” Seshe asked with amusement.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely true, they just won’t admit it. Khelva’s too shy for his own good and Linwir has _no_ self-confidence.” Lucrius said. Suddenly his eyes widened a bit. “Seshe, ask me to dance.” He murmured.

“Ask you to dance?” He repeated, raising an eyebrow. Lucrius took his hand and quickly led him over to the edge of the dance floor, placing his hands on Seshe’s shoulders. Seshe automatically set his own hands on Lucrius’ hips and joined the other couples on the floor in an easy waltz.

“Sorry about that.” Lucrius said, glancing over his shoulder. “Fling of mine just started walking toward us and I wasn’t going to stop talking to you so I listen to him whine about how I never replied to his letters.”

“Ah, I see.” Seshe said with a small smile. Lucrius grinned.

“ _Speaking_ of flings, you’re very attractive.” He said happily. Seshe’s eyes widened slightly. This was going much better than he thought it would. It would be almost too easy to kill him.

“And you’re very forward.” Seshe replied.

“Aw, am I not your type?” Lucrius asked with a feigned pout. “I won’t be angry, but I will be disappointed.” Seshe laughed brightly and Lucrius lit up.

“No, you’re definitely my type. I’m just not used to getting hit on by cute guys.” He said with a genuine smile.

“That is either the biggest lie or the biggest tragedy that I’ve ever heard.” Lucrius said with a sad shake of his head. Seshe gave a small smirk.

“Well, I would never lie to someone like you, Mr. Quelus-Kishev.”

“Lucrius.” He corrected, one of his thumbs brushing against Seshe’s neck.

“Lucrius, you’re a very intriguing man.” Seshe said as he twirled him. The other man giggled brightly and allowed himself to be swept up in the motion.

“You’re not so bad, yourself.” He returned with a broad grin. Seshe suddenly realized that it was going to be a lot harder for him to kill Lucrius than he originally thought. He was keenly aware of the vial in his jacket breast pocket. He never killed anyone personally, never got his hands dirty because of his odd moral code, and the poison couldn’t be traced back to him. But dear lord looking at this man up close and watching him smile and flirt was making it hard to commit.

“What are you thinking about?” Lucrius asked curiously.

“How beautiful you are.” Seshe said without missing a beat, smiling at him brightly. Lucrius snorted.

“As flattering as that is, I have a sneaking suspicion that you’re lying to me.” Lucrius chimed, not looking at all put out by the idea that Seshe was being dishonest with him.

“I actually…” Seshe murmured, pulling out his pocket watch and glancing at it. “I need to get going.” Lucrius actually pouted at that, looking genuinely disappointed.

“Oh, I see.” He said a bit petulantly. Seshe replaced the pocket watch and gave him an apologetic smile.

“I’d like to see you again. Would you minded if I wrote you?” Seshe asked before he could think about it. Lucrius smiled, perking up happily.

“I wouldn’t mind that at all.” He said, grinning. Seshe nodded and gave a small bow of his head.

“Then I’ll leave you on a happy note, and write you soon.” He said, glancing back up at him and winking before stepping away and slipping toward the door. He needed to get out of there. He tossed vague apologies and excuses at those who tried to catch him in parting conversation but didn’t slow down on his way out.

Seshe’s carriage was ready for him and he’d barely shut the door behind him when the driver pulled away quickly. They were both very used to Seshe needing to leave with haste. Hopefully before the police arrived. He couldn’t help but wonder why, exactly, he’d let this one live.

~~~~~

It was three months before Seshe allowed himself to contact Lucrius again. He’d thought about the man nearly nonstop but he couldn’t think about him. Wouldn’t think about him. But eventually he called in a favor and found his address. It took him six tries to write the letter and he then spent two days contemplating whether or not it was actually a good idea to send it. He came to the conclusion that it wasn’t and set the letter aside to be burned but one of his servants mistook it for something to be sent out and mailed it on their own.

Seshe only realized that, of course, about a week later when he received a letter in return.

“Someone’s trying to kill me.” He said evenly to his butler, who had handed him the letter. The butler raised an eyebrow.

“Sir?”

“The envelope says it’s from Lucrius Quelus-Kishev, but I never gave him my address. This envelope or its contents are most certainly poisoned.” He said with a deep frown. The butler pressed his lips together.

“Or he simply copied the address from the letter you wrote him.” He suggested. Seshe looked up at him.

“Excuse me?”

“Your letter, sir.” He repeated. Seshe thought for a moment and paled.

“You sent it.” 

“I did, sir.” Seshe stared at him for several moments before scowling and tearing the envelope open. He read the letter twice and the entire time his expression got more and more sour.

“Problem, sir?”

“He wants to see me again.” Seshe bit off.

“I was under the impression that you would enjoy that as well.”

“I would! But that doesn’t mean I should do it. He’s a _target_.” Seshe insisted. The other man gave an unimpressed look.

“You didn’t kill him. You wouldn’t do that without good reason. However, seeing as I have yet to understand what that reason is, I have come to the conclusion that you are attached to the target. Do with that what you will, sir.” He said, giving a slight bow and walking back out of the room. Seshe glared at the door.

“I am not attached.” Seshe grumbled unhappily as he sat at his desk and took out his stationary.

~~~~~

He was attached. It had taken several more months and more than a few angry letters from his employer about Lucrius’ living status for him to come to that conclusion. He and Lucrius had begun seeing each other almost regularly and Seshe had…a reasonable amount of fondness for him. He hoped that he didn’t ruin it.

Seshe hesitated just before he knocked on the door but it opened without prompting, one of the servants beaming at him.

“Mr. Qjan, good to see you again!” She said, clearly pleased. He gave a soft smile.

“Madeline, you as well.”

“Mr. Quelus-Kishev and Mrs. Valentine are in the drawing room.” She said happily, stepping aside to let him in.

“Thank you.” He said graciously before pausing. “Which Mrs. Valentine?”

“Ila.” She said as she shut the door and held out her hands for his coat, which he shrugged off and handed over.

“I can find my way there, thank you.” He said with a smile. She nodded and disappeared as Seshe started making his way toward the drawing room.

Seshe took a deep breath when he heard voices and plastered on a smile before stepping into the room.

“Seshe!” Lucrius said, clearly pleased. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”

“I was only a few minutes late.” Seshe defended. Lucrius raised an eyebrow, looking pointedly at the clock. “Fifteen isn’t that long.” He added a bit more weakly. Ila laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Fashionably late, dear. Don’t worry about it.” She said with a fond smile. Seshe gave her a grateful look and cleared his throat, about to speak. He was interrupted by a servant coming in and announcing that dinner was ready before stepping back out again. Lucrius beamed.

“Perfect timing!” He said, clapping his hands together with delight. “I’m starving. Shall we?” He asked as he stood from the couch he’d been sitting in. Ila stood as well and smoothed out her wrinkle-less dress before making her way out after the servant in the direction of the dining room. Seshe hesitated, back perfectly straight as Lucrius turned and looked at him from the doorway.

“Are you alright?” He asked, concern creeping into his voice.

“I…need to tell you something.” Seshe said slowly. Lucrius raised an eyebrow and nodded.

“Go on.” Lucrius invited.

“I wasn’t with friends at the party.” Seshe said quickly, knowing that if he hesitated he wouldn’t find the nerve to tell him. “I was hired to be there. My initial interest in you wasn’t random and it wasn’t innocent. I was seeking you out specifically because…”

“Because you were going to kill me.” Lucrius finished, looking at him as though he were slow. “I’m a slut, I’m not stupid.” Seshe looked at him for a moment, startled.

“What?” He eventually managed. Lucrius rolled his eyes.

“Do you not remember the time you poisoned my glass and dumped it in a bush when you thought I wasn’t looking?”

“The poisoning was on reflex.” Seshe muttered.

“I figured. You looked panicked.” Lucrius said, offering up a small smile.

“How did you…how long have you known?” Seshe asked.

“I’ve had an inkling that something was off for a few months, but I only figured it out when you came to lunch last time. You were pale and jumpy, and you had blood on the cuff of your trousers.” Lucrius said with a small shrug. Seshe remembered it well. He’d always favored poison but he’d been forced to shoot the target. He’d used a dueling pistol the poor woman had on her.

“You’ve known that long?” He asked.

“Like I said, I’m not stupid.” Lucrius replied. “Are you alright? You look pale again.”

“I just…I assumed you would have hated me. Or been afraid.” Seshe said.

“I wasn’t afraid of you. If you were hired to kill me and put it off for this long, you didn’t want to kill me.”

“But…”

“Seshe,” Lucrius laughed. “, just accept it. And hurry up, or Ila is going to think we’re doing something impolite. I’ll see you in the dining room.” He said, patting Seshe on the cheek and then leaving him to his thoughts, slipping out of the room entirely.

“He knew.” Seshe whispered to the empty room.

**Author's Note:**

> Want more of my work? Check me out at [caitninja ](http://caitninja.tumblr.com/)on Tumblr!
> 
> Want a continuation of this story or something entirely new? Check out [this page!](http://caitninja.tumblr.com/post/166332102140/commissions%20)


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